Early retirement doesn’t make life longer, study says

Mortality was almost twice as high in the first 10 years of retirement for people who stopped working at age 55 than for those who continued working to 60 or 65, a recent study found. It may seem as though ending the daily grind sooner rather than later would provide a health bonus, but the reverse may be true. Retiring early is not linked to longer life.

The study, published online by BMJ, was adjusted to take into consideration factors such as sex and socioeconomic status. Although some workers in the study retired at 55, because of failing health, mortality improved with increasing age at retirement for people from both high and low socioeconomic groups, Senior Journal reports.

The authors said there has been a widespread perception that early retirement is associated with longer life expectancy and later retirement is associated with early death. But no consensus has been reached on the effect of early retirement on survival.

Despite a widespread perception that early retirement is associated with longer life expectancy and later retirement is associated with early death, no consensus has been reached on the effect of early retirement on survival, according to Daily News Central.

The study involved more than 3,500 employees of the petrochemical industry in Texas who retired at 55, 60 and 65. Participants were monitored for up to 26 years to assess whether early retirement provided any survival advantage.

After adjusting for such factors as sex and socioeconomic status, the researchers found that employees who retired at 55 had a significantly increased mortality compared with those who retired at 65.
A.M.